Commerce in Bharat like most other things, is rarely purely transactional. It is often associated with our aspirations, rituals, and emotions. Any product that is built to facilitate commerce for us must therefore take these softer aspects into account. In the western world view we often speak of the time value of money. But the right Bharat calendar app might just be able to unlock the “money value of a given time”.

India has a long and distinguished ‘Great-Tradition’ of literature in the established classical languages such as Sanskrit and Tamil. There is, however, an even richer verbal tradition of folklore, proverbs, remedies and morals in every Indian language that never made it to the written word. Yet to come, are the powerful digital tools and user experiences for the widespread sharing and productive use of our oral traditions.

From local spirits like feni, toddy and mahua liquor, to fine garments, to intricate furniture and jewellery, marketing our products with a little more flair and storytelling without being bashful about the price might just help revive traditional cottage industries while giving us an authentic taste of our heritage.

According to the latest Unesco survey, more than 70% of internet users are men. India accounts for nearly half the digital gender gap worldwide, even though we account for 12% of the internet total population.India’s digital gender divide is worse than countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Businesses in India today are paralyzed by cumbersome compliance process. The latest one is GST compliance. Going to gst.gov.in is a bit like watching the Indian contingent at the Olympics: you’re most likely to be disappointed, but on the odd occasion, you’ll witness a semblance of competence.

India today speaks 780 languages written in 86 scripts. However, the internet today is not fluent in Indian languages - less than 0.1% of the content online is vernacular. Speaking in the customer’s language engenders trust and a sense of comfort. And that’s good for business. It’s about time the Indian internet woke up to this fact.

Managing the ongoing operations of a distributed solar micro-grid will provide a unique growth opportunity for both local and centralized services and enable local communities, who lack the expertise themselves, to partner with operators and set up micro-grids that cater to the energy needs of 100-150 families.

Every trend concerning solar power points towards a future where every nook and corner of the nation will be able to power itself by employing localized microgrids and reducing dependence on centralized infrastructure and poor distribution.

With both policy and economics falling in place, the time is ripe for the third largest power consumer of the world to build thriving businesses in renewables, especially solar and wind energy sectors. First among these will be third party operations and maintenance service providers for large utility projects and distributed solar power generation.

Imagine a news channel with reporters in every district. Reporting in every language spoken in the country. Broadcast over WhatsApp. Most of India is starved of local and relevant ‘news they can use’ and there is a potential to build full stack mobile-based hyper local news networks.

As India lies somewhere at the bottom of the charts in ease of doing business, the true potential of our country’s entrepreneurial talent shall be realized only when our legal framework facilitates an environment where ‘the mind is without fear’

The Uber model can be a powerful tool to drive down costs for the consumer while improving incomes for asset owners, and can yield surprising results when applied to fundamental problems such as agriculture

Personalization of financial products to match the cashflows, risk appetite, and goals of the lower and middle income segment of Bharat will unleash the next wave of growth in financial services in India.

WhatsApp is India’s internet, and could be the medium for marketing campaigns targeting the emerging middle class. In other words, what businesses that serve Bharat will need is WPO —WhatsApp Process Outsourcing

Tom talks to an audience at Milken Institute's Global Conference 2017, about Aspada's structure and investment thesis, and how its entrepreneurs are addressing global development challenges through a scalable, growth-focused approach.

On a panel at Milken Institute's Global Conference 2017, Sahil talks about technological innovation in financial service in India till date, and what is needed moving forward to solve some of the pressing challenges faced by the world's largest democracy.

Sahil Kini talks about the India Stack (Aadhaar, Mobile Phone Penetration, Universal Bank Accounts) and other public technological infrastructure that has been built in India over the past 6 years that provides a ripe opportunity for disruption in Banking and Finance, at The Milken Institute 2016 in Singapore.

Sahil Kini talks about mobile trends that are unique to India at Milken Institute 2016, and explains how Aadhaar and the India Stack will eliminate inefficiencies in the way direct benefit schemes and tax collections currently work in the country.

Tom Hyland at Milken Institute 2015, underscoring the need for full-stack business models in India, and highlighting the need for financing instruments that are well suited for businesses in the Indian context.

Sahil Kini at Yourstory Mobile Sparks 2015, underscores the need for digital language equality, and how Aspada backed Reverie Technologies is well suited to bridge the vernacular language divide for the next 300 million Indian that are expected to come online.